Rev up the mixer. Fire up the oven. It's holiday cookie baking time, and this trio of cookbooks offers something for everyone, from die-hard chocoholics to citrus devotees. There are sweet treats from San Francisco dessert maker and marshmallow maven Shauna Sever, seriously unusual twists from Portland, Ore., pastry cart owner Kir Jensen and a baking tome from Seattle's legendary Tom Douglas -- who popped up on Bravo's "Top Chef Seattle" recently. Here's the scoop:

The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook

The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook by Tom Douglas
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No trip to Seattle is complete without a foray to one of Douglas' 13 popular restaurants. The 2012 winner of the James Beard Outstanding Restaurateur award celebrates the fresh ingredients of the Pacific Northwest and spins them into lovely, memorable meals. Now he's unveiled his pastry secrets in "The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook: Sweetness in Seattle" (William Morrow, $35, 390 pages) with 125 recipes that range from sweet -- hello, Triple Coconut Cream Pie -- to savory sandwiches and bennies, the trendy nickname for eggs Benedict and its variations.

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That pie was what put the Dahlia Bakery on the map, and his cinnamon-sugar and mascarpone doughnuts and peanut butter cream-filled peanut butter cookies have passionate followings, too. But it's recipes for treats such as Jackie's Holiday Fruitcake Bars with Dried Cherries and Brandy and intensely chocolaty Chocolate Truffle Cookies with Crackly Crust that make this book a winner for holiday bakers.

Pure Vanilla by Shauna Sever
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The book abounds in technique tips and recipe asides -- use a spring-loaded ice cream scoop, for example, to transfer batter to baking sheets -- that will help even novice bakers turn out decadent desserts.

Pure Vanilla

You may remember Sever's name from last year's "Marshmallow Madness!" (Quirk Books, 2011). Now the Bay Area dessert caterer has turned her attention to everyone's favorite flavor in "Pure Vanilla" (Quirk Books, $22.95, 160 page). Sure, we may say we're chocoholics, but we put vanilla in everything we bake, pour vanilla syrup in our lattes and serve vanilla ice cream with every pie or birthday cake.

The Sugar Cube by Kir Jensen
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Sever delves into the various forms of vanilla -- the pods, paste, powder and extract -- as well as the differences between Madagascar, say, and Indonesian vanilla. But it's the recipes that really shine. Her Buttery Baked Vanilla Bean French Toast or Dutch Babies are perfect fare for Christmas morning, while her Cherry Vanilla Shortbread Cake Squares and Lemon-Vanilla Dream Bars would be great at any holiday cookie exchange. Filled with lemon curd and white chocolate, the latter dessert combines the best of both the blondie and lemon square worlds.

The Sugar Cube

You may think food trucks are hot here, but in Portland, they're a major part of the food scene -- and Jensen's Sugar Cube is a mainstay. Jensen traffics in what she calls "deliciously twisted treats," salty-sweet mixtures such as the chocolaty Highway to Heaven cupcake, which sports salted caramel drizzles and potato chips. Everything is created, baked and frosted in her tiny food cart, which means that the 50 recipes in "The Sugar Cube" (Chronicle Books, $24.95, 144 pages) should work in your apartment kitchen, too.

The chapter on cookies offers all sorts of holiday-ready possibilities, including spicy gingersnaps with fresh ginger, Seven Layers of Sin Bars -- with cashews, coconut, butterscotch and crushed Ruffles potato chips -- and a significant twist on the typical, jam-filled shortbread theme. She grates the frozen dough for her Della's Austrian Shortbread Bars over the pan bottom, covers it with homemade Cranberry-Port Jam, then tops it with more grated, frozen shortbread dough so the cookie layer remains light and fluffy.